Passenger smokes, tries to open door on Air India flight

In yet another mid-air disruption on an Air India flight, a passenger on Saturday was reportedly caught smoking in the bathroom and misbehaving with fellow co-passengers on the airline's London-Mumbai flight. The flight crew revealed that the accused, an Indian-origin American national, also attempted to open the flight door, endangering the lives of all passengers onboard the plane, said multiple reports.

• This incident comes at a time when Air India is under the cosh for mid-air instances involving unruly passengers.
• The most noteworthy incident involved a Mumbai man—Shankar Mishra—who reportedly urinated on a female co-passenger on the airline's New York-Delhi flight in November 2022.
• On an Air India Paris-Delhi flight in December, one passenger urinated on a co-passenger's blanket while another smoked near the bathroom.

Identified as Ramakant, the accused is reportedly a 37-year-old citizen of the United States (US). Meanwhile, a complaint has been filed against him at Mumbai's Sahar Police Station for smoking on the flight, reported Times Now. Furthermore, blood samples of the man have also reportedly been sent for examination to find out if he was in an intoxicated condition or was mentally unstable.

According to ANI, a crew member said that Ramakant sharted shouting after being caught smoking. "But after some time, he tried to open the door of the aircraft. All the passengers got scared because of his behavior... He was not ready to listen to us. Then we tied his hands and legs and made him sit on the seat," the crew member added.

A case was registered against Ramakant under the 1937 Aircraft Act's Sections 22 (refusing to follow a lawful instruction by the pilot-in-command), 23 (jeopardizing good order and discipline or assault and other acts endangering safety), and 25 (smoking), and the Indian Penal Code Section 336 (doing any act so rashly or negligently as to endanger someone's life or the personal safety of others).

In January this year, a similar incident happened when the Mumbai Airport Police booked a passenger onboard an Indigo flight from Nagpur to Mumbai for reportedly attempting to open the emergency door of the aircraft. He attempted to open the door just before the flight landed at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in the financial capital of India.

Last week, too, Air India was in the news after one of its crew members was arrested for trying to smuggle gold in Kerala. Identified as Shafi Sharaf from Kerala's Wayanad, the accused had reportedly wrapped 1,487 grams of gold around both his arms. According to ANI, Sharaf tried to cover the gold with his shirt sleeves and pass the green customs clearance channel.